ALL OVER THE PLACE (LONG post lots of pics)S

Hey all,
 Happy Monday..

Well this past Friday pink eye struck with my son.. this morning I woke up with it.. YAY ME.. headed to the doc and got some drops and in addition was given a z pak due to the length of the cold I have.. doc feels at this point, having it this long it may have sat to long and caused an infection.. so.. worst thing that happens is I took a z pak for nothing..lol.. best case.. in about 48 hours Ill be feeling sooo much better and be much better for my lil sickies..

SO.. the title of this post is ALL OVER THE PLACE.. i say this because I see blogs and posts all the time that say.. ORGANIZE you kitchen in an afternoon or what not.. my attention span is not that long..lol.

when Im cleaning the house say today for instance.. I will do the dishes.. then go mop the dining room.. then take a quick break.. go back to some laundry I was doing earlier..lol.. kind of crazy in my pattern of cleaning.. I cant just do one room at a time..

I found out last week in my sickness that what might work great for me is say 15-30 minutes in each room.. Commit to a room for that period of time then move on.. worked well and my whole house ended up being picked up..


Thanks to a fabulous blogger I follow -Jen of  iheart organizing I have decided that while my counters look nice and clutter free my cabinets and drawers NOT SO MUCH.. her recent kitchen cabinet/drawer transformation inspired me to get moving on things..

First up was last week.. My cabinet I store my meds in..

now.. most American people store their meds in the Medicine cabinet in the bathroom.. I'm not your average American.. I suffer from Manic Depression, aka Bipolar disorder.. Im on a good amount of meds as well as a vitamin therapy to help control the symptoms (ps.. going very well by the way)

However.. it was getting OUT OF CONTROL.. when we first moved in a year ago I just had the bottom left side of meds.. then the kids needed things, then hubs had major surgery and wanted to keep every pill bottle.( for memento's I guess)

and now its become THIS home pharmacy..lol

some of my issues with this are the following-

 NUMBER 1 biggest problem is they are to accessible to my kids.. Not my son who is 2.. but my daughter who is 5.. I just had a bad vision of her trying to get her gummy vitamins down and taking something else.. I dont let her go in this cabinet and ultimately I should get a child zip loc thing on it.. but I can do other things as well

Secondly how can I find what I NEED in that mess..

Bring on a couple random storage containers I found in the house.. the one on the left was a dollar tree container.. the other.. I have no clue.. looks like a little tackle box.. but it works..

The Kids do not have much as we don't like to over medicate the kids.. i keep Motrin, some basic bland cough medicine and thermometers as well as saline nose spray (works great for moms and dads as well..lol)

I then went through ALLLLLLLL my meds.. what was not needed.. what was expired.. you would not believe how many empty boxes and bottles I found in this cupboard..

I then put things nicely in the box.. some of the RX boxes like my Advair.. I didn't need the whole box. but the discus does not have the refill label on it. so rather than keeping the WHOLE box I just tore off the refill info..

This is the result of the after.. I kept my main daily meds out.. so I can access them easily.. all in very child safe bottles.. i also left out Hubs Advil Migraine as he suffers from them frequently and the generic Advil which I use.. soooo the kids meds are far out of reach.. and my meds have been widdled down to what you see here.. 

Was really happy I took the 10 minutes to do this project..I felt like I was doing my part as a mom and medication taker to be responsible about whats being stored in my home.. taking an extra gummy vitamin wont harm your child.. but a whole an expired bottle of neurontin might.. So it was time to get rid of things..

there is a method to dispose of old meds.. Please read the following link carefully..you should NEVER just throw old meds in the trash or toilet..

Medication Disposal

I personally used the kitty litter treatment since I have 2 cats and had plenty of litter to spare..

Coffee grounds work as well..

NEXT UP was my Utensil drawer..

Welcome to the world of My UTENSILS.. i know.. really shanun? you blog about organization yet your utensil drawer looks like this?? YOU BETCHA.. this is a chronicle.. A journey to making my house a home..lol.. so this is sometimes what ya get when you open drawers or closets..lol.. Its a work in progress..

Anyways.. I kept seeing pins about making your own Drawer dividers out of cereal boxes.. I wanted a bit sturdier and believe it or not my drawers are wide and deep.. to PURCHASE 1 divider I was looking at 10-15 bucks.. and I wanted 2.. so 30$ I THINK NOT.. 

I had some old cardboard file storage boxes left from packaging some family Christmas gifts..(you notice I say. left over from.... or stored.... reused items is my middle name.. Im a pack rat and its starting to pay off..lol)

I pulled out some Black 12x12 card stock.. Mod Podge, a tape measure and GOT TO WORK..

My drawers are 16 1/4 wide by 5 1/4 deep.. that's a big order to fill..

I really only needed 2 dividers, but I figured make 3 just in case I mess up.. I was already cutting and prepping for 2.. whats 1 more..lol

I then mod podged some black card stock onto the cardboard I had cut out with a packaging knife (PS def not  a "Kids helping" Project..After I did that I decided I wanted it glossy so I just added mod podge to the outside as well..

I then had to do a little trim work, as Im awful at measuring..lol

The slid right into place and stayed in snug..

WHEN I OPEN... NOW I SEE

I stored my kitchen shears, can openers and counter scrapers in front..

second row is my cut tools.. like my cheese grater, pizza cutters..

then in the back the random tools I don't always use but need for random things.. 

Side View..

NOW... you might be saying.. what happened to the things like spatulas and what not.. WELL good questions.. I don't happen to have a thousand perfect drawers to house everything.. so I had to get creative..

I personally did not want to spend 20$ on some utensil jar for my counter.. A counter I have worked very hard to keep clutter free..

SOOOO when a plant a friend had given me for a housewarming present last year died due to my black thumb, I saw an up cycle opportunity..

I have a nice 3 tiered stand that holds my potatoes and onions and garlic.. but the top had been missing something.. I tried to revive the dying plant by putting it on top.. BUT it didnt survive.. so I cleaned out the pot and it now is my fancy shmancy utensil holder.. all of 5 inches away from the drawer they were once housed in.. so not like Im going any further to get them..lol..

ANYWAYS.. remember, before you run out to buy something for some kitchen organization projects.. see what you have at home.. what can be used.. if you have NOTHING that will work.. then see if its something you can make.. if all else fails.. find coupons and search for the lowest price..

Such as this project..

UNDER MY SINK..

After scouring my basement for a tension rod for this project I could not find one.. I also didnt feel like drilling holes into my custom cabinets.. so turns out walmart had the best deal.. 2.94 for a tension rod..

I had to work at the tension rod.. with the bottles hanging on it kept sliding down.. however I spent almost 3$ of my allowance on this.. Im working on saving up for some decorative items.. so 3$ was a lot to spare..

i figured out if I hung it behind the drain pipe it would sit gently on the back lip.. Holds in place perfect.. SO NICE to be able to grab what I need down there when I need it..

SOOO that's it.. that's what I got for today..

Much Love and Blessings on this Monday..

Shanun